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AnunC8's avatar
AnunC8
Aspirant
Oct 28, 2019

Nighthawk, poor signal with antenna

I have a Nighthawk MR1100 Hotspot that I'm trying to get a better connection with. I'm told that antennas can do wonders for them, but I seem to be having no luck.

As it stands, the Nighthawk only gets 1/5 bars of signal strength on the UI from the tower to my north. I've invested in smaller antennas that seem to make no difference, but I've also tried a Yagi directional, and splurged for the good LMR400 cable. Still, even with that, I have one bar of strength. It's well under 1mbps at all times.

I don't understand how others can use this same rig to get a Nighthawk that gets no signal at all up to 20mbps, and yet the antennas seem to have no effect for me whatsoever. I even tried replacing the Nighthawk in case it was defective. Same issue.

I've been fighting with this for six months, and this is my last attempt to make this work before I throw the thing own and begrudgingly go to a satellite provider.

I hope you can help me figure out what I'm doing wrong!

Thanks!

2 Replies

  • Blanca_O's avatar
    Blanca_O
    NETGEAR Employee Retired

    Hi AnunC8

     

    Welcome to NETGEAR Community!

     

    Make sure that network coverage is available in the area. You can do this by checking the ISPs website or using OpenSignal app on your iOS and Android device see https://opensignal.com/networks for more info.

     

    You may also want to try moving the device to a location with a clear view of the sky (for example, near a window).

     

    Regards,
    Blanca
    Community Team

  • From what you described here, seems your external antenna were plugged onto TS-9 port and the band your M1 landed is not on those bands, you'd better to figure out if that is the case. Some of users tried to verify TS-9 port of the antenna and found they are on low band while another two internal antenna are for high band (B7). So if you are landed on B7, then it might not improve much when trying with TS-9 port of the antenna. Check SETTINGS->DIAGNOSTICS->Current Radio Band to confirm if that is the case.